


The Best Day

by IDsimmons



Series: In the Right Direction [8]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Adorable FitzSimmons (Agents of SHIELD), Domestic Fluff, F/M, Family, Family Fluff, Kid Fic, Leo Fitz & Skye | Daisy Johnson Friendship, Perthshire Cottage, Protective Skye | Daisy Johnson, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-30
Updated: 2020-06-30
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:01:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24997258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IDsimmons/pseuds/IDsimmons
Summary: Daisy is visiting the Fitz-Simmons cottage when there's a call to pick up their oldest daughter from school. Daisy can spot a fake stomach bug a mile away, not to mention Peggy Fitz-Simmons inherited her parents acting skills...or lack there of.(Title from The Best Day by Taylor Swift)
Relationships: Leo Fitz & Jemma Simmons, Leo Fitz/Jemma Simmons
Series: In the Right Direction [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1698988
Comments: 4
Kudos: 54





	The Best Day

"Hi. Er, Hello. I'm Daisy Johnson, I'm here to pick up Peggy Fitz-Simmons. I should be on the list." Daisy fidgeted nervously in the high school office still feeling the residual echoes of discomfort from spending too much time in offices just like this, honestly, really, it was just a series of distinct unfortunate circumstances, that may or may not have been her fault. She jangled the keys loudly, bouncing on her toes waiting for her niece to appear through the door, until an office lady, was it possible that it was the same lady from her own school? No...no, definitely not. Apparently, every school came equipped with one disapproving elderly woman who looked like she ironed her jeans and used enough hairspray in her hair to have her very own hole in the ozone layer named after her. Daisy gave her a tight awkward smile, feeling her face do that thing it does when faced with annoying authority figures. High school office lady: 1 Daisy Johnson "Quake" resident inhuman superhero: 0. She turned her back quickly, slumping into a hard, unforgiving chair. Jeez, you would think that the fancy schools would at least have chairs that they wouldn't consider using to torture someone with. Twelve year old Peggy walked into the office, face screwed up in misery, one arm clutched to her stomach and the other wrapped around the strap of her hulking pink bookbag and Daisy smirked. Daisy could spot a phony sickness from years of experience, not to mention the kid had the acting skills of her parents. Daisy reached over and took the bag from the girl, who was laying it on a little too thick, grunting at the weight of the bag. She elbowed her sharply after a particularly dramatic groan, giving her a wide eyed warning and an eye roll, the message was received, tone it down. Daisy bent her head, covering her face with her hair to keep her utter amusement from giving them away, just like old times then, she mused as she filled out the release papers in a hurry to get them out of there before anyone caught on to Peggy's charade. 

With what Daisy suspected was an entire library slung over her shoulder, was the pink bag bigger on the inside? Daisy mused, as she made her way to the car, chucking the bag in the backseat. Peggy followed silently, she wasn't sick but something was definitely not right, Daisy stared her up and down deciding what she should do. Peggy loved school more than life itself, there had to be a reason why she pulled this little ruse, Daisy thought to herself, plan quickly forming in her mind as she began to drive away from the school. She stole little glances at the girl as she drove, struck by how much older she seemed since the last time she saw her in person, a little over a month ago. She seemed sad and quiet, the exact opposite of the Peggy Fitz-Simmons she's known for pretty much her whole life and that was not ok with her. Someone hurt her baby genius and she was going to kick their ass, she needed names. God, she hated high school. Peggy usually had this unwavering, unapologetic self confidence that Daisy envied, she saw Jemma so clearly in the way that she spoke and carried herself, it made her laugh watching them both side by side, both bold and commanding. Although, her favorite thing about coming home to visit was watching Fitz with his oldest daughter, fitzsimmoning with Peggy mostly because she felt like she time traveled back to those first few months on the bus when they were all just friends and FitzSimmons shared one brain and none of them had been damaged yet. This was infinitely better, though. Coming to the cottage in Perthshire never failed to make her smile which made her a frequent visitor, besides she finally had a place to call home and a family to call her own. She wouldn't miss that for the end of the world...literally. A quiet sigh escaped Peggy as she chewed her bottom lip staring intently out of the window. 

"So where's Mum and Da?" Peggy finally broke the straining silence that the soft music was doing little to alleviate.

"Your mom had to take Cole to his doctor's appointment and Fitz was working on some…thing, I don't really know because I wasn't really listening but he was flailing around like he always does when he's in deep into some Fitzsimmons braintrust idea. So I offered my services, as I was absolutely no help there, besides you know how much your Dad loves when I hang out in the lab." Daisy smirked to herself, restraining herself from full out cackling, knowing full well that she always does her absolute best to annoy Fitz when she gets bored watching FitzSimmons work, shifting his papers, moving his pencil, pressing random buttons, it was fun to see how high and squeaky his voice would get before he finally kicked her out of the lab. It was the little things in life that made her happy. Fitz practically threw the car keys at her when the school called about Peggy being sick. Daisy saw a ghost of a smile twitch along Peggy's lips before before being pressed back together in a hard line. 

After driving nearly an hour, Daisy pulled into a parking spot in the crowded shopping center and turned off the car. She was about to get out of the car when she was stopped by a very confused preteen. 

"Um, Aunt Daisy? What are we here for? I thought we were going home? I just don't feel good."

"We're ditching right? You're not sick, you act about as well as your Mom and Dad...which is not great. So come on, baby genius. Mall pretzels and the arcade waits for no one." Daisy grabs her uncertain niece's hand and pulls her along, stopping when Peggy pulls back on her arm. 

"I shouldn't get to- I mean, I lied. Why are you taking me to get food?"

"Well, I'm hungry and you're related to Fitz so I know you're hungry. And just because you aren't actually physically sick doesn't mean that there isn't something wrong. So pretzels and arcade. I'm going to kick your butt. Let's go, kid." This time Peggy didn't resist and let herself be pulled along to the far off corner of the mall where she could hear the swirling noise of games long before they reached the entrance. After Daisy purchased an obscene amount of tokens, the two battled it out on various games before stopping at skeeball. They played until their shoulders hurt and they had only one more token left between them. Peggy's cheeks hurt from smiling and she felt like herself again, her competive streak was very much alive and well as she danced around Daisy as she beat her time after time while Daisy made excuses and put on a show of being grumpy. Daisy was more than happy to lose a thousand games of skeeball if it had Peggy acting like herself again. I mean, she was definitely one hundred percent letting her win on purpose and not because apparently she was terrible at it. Daisy pressed the last token into the kid's hand and told her last game was her pick. Peggy looked around the room and spotted a game where if you drop your coin at the right time and spot on the rocking platform you could push a ton of coins off and win a mass of tickets for a prize. Peggy had her eye on a very specific prize for her aunt so she walked up to the swaying platform and studied it looking for the best spot. Daisy watched over her shoulder as she concentrated a little too hard on a game that was basically rigged. Peggy dropped her coin in and was disappointed when it shifted a lot of coins to the precipice of falling but only a couple actually fell. Peggy dropped to collect her meager winnings when the machine suddenly shoke slightly and all of the coins at the edge fell and the game began spitting out tickets in earnest. Peggy laughed at her aunt who was intently studying her cuticles and hugged her tightly as she waited for the game to stop beeping excitingly. 

"Thanks for today, Aunt Daisy. It was the worst and now it's...the best." Daisy squeezed the lanky girl to her and ran her fingers along the dirty blonde curls bound by her neat ponytail, Daisy didn't know what to say so she just pulled her a little bit more forcefully to her before letting go. 

"Anytime, baby genius. Go pick out a prize so we can go to the food court. I'm starving." Peggy nodded in agreement, she was very much looking forward to food court junk food, so she quickly turned on her heel and hastened her steps. Peggy had already scoped out exactly what she wanted to get for Daisy so she walked to the counter, disarming smile already fixed to her face as she set her sights on negotiations, the poor ticket collector had no idea what was about to hit him. People were often caught off guard because she was barely five foot tall, all bones and awkward angles, soft blue eyes and sandy blonde hair so that when she started talking in her confident, no nonsense manner, she knew people grossly underestimated her abilities and she very much enjoyed using that to her advantage.

Peggy came away with a plush monkey wearing a monocle of all things and the bumbling man eager to get her out of his hair threw in a bag of gummy worms at Peggy's slight suggestion. Peggy smiled brightly, thanking the man politely before walking away with her prizes. She found Daisy leaning against the wall smirking at her as she approached. Peggy shrugged off her look, completely unembarrassed, as painful as the words kids at school were, it never once occurred to her to pretend to be someone that she wasn't. 

"I didn't think that you had a monkey yet, so I got you one. Plus, he's really cute, make sure Da or Cole doesn't steal him." Peggy handed the yellow monkey over to Daisy and continued talking quickly when Daisy didn't say anything in response, not completely sure of what to make of her face. "Everyone in the family has one, you know. I know Mum usually gets them for everyone but I don't know...just here, he's for you. He can keep you company when you are on missions and stuff until you can visit again." Daisy's eyes became suspiciously glassy as she pulled her most perfect awkward nerdling of a niece into a crushing hug. 

"Thanks, I'm sure Lord Banana will fit on the team quite nicely. But really, thanks baby genius." Daisy reached back and ruffled the back of her curly ponytail. Daisy led a team of inhumans now, it was weird being the person everyone looked to for decisions, every once in a while she still caught herself looking over her shoulder for FitzSimmons, Coulson or May to ask their opinion but it was just her. The rest of the team scattered across Shield where they were needed most. The days where they all could stick together in their small little family unit no longer made sense as the organization grew once again. At least they all had Perthshire. She smiled and traced a finger along the monocle, willing away the nostalgia. "You didn't get anything for yourself though?"

"Oh, I may have convinced the guy to throw these in" She reached into the bag and bit a gummy worm in half before offering the bag to Daisy. Daisy laughed and took one for herself as they made their way over to the food court for pretzels. They stood in line and Daisy grimaced as she realized the time. 

"We'll have to get these to go, I told your Fitz-dad, still so weird, that I would have you back by dinner. The pair ordered their food and made their way back to the car, Peggy talking animatedly about one of the projects she was working on at school as they drove back towards reality. Peggy chewed and talked with her mouth full. Daisy did the same as they blared the music and danced in their seats when Peggy's favorite song started playing on the radio. When the final notes ended Peggy reached over and turned down the volume. 

"This project, it's my last major project before I graduate and I don't ever have to see those people again. It's some of my best work, I think. But the other kids are not...nice...about it. Mum says the same thing happened to her and to Da but I don't know, sometimes I see Maisie with all of her friends and I just want to stop. I don't want to be different or special anymore. I just want to have a phone that has more than texts from my Mum on it. It's stupid, I know." 

"It's not. It's totally normal. I mean, I wasn't jumping for joy when this happened to me." Daisy reached over and sent a tickle of light vibrations down Peggy's arm. "It was the worst, honestly. People treat you differently, right? It wasn't a great time for me in general. I was terrified."

"So, did they treat differently when they found out? What happened? Everyone obviously knows now. Was it ok?" Daisy smiled sadly for a moment, concentrating on the road before abruptly pulling off to the side and threw on her hazard lights. Peggy's mouth hung open, a half chewed gummy worm choked down in surprise. Daisy unbuckled her seatbelt and turned to face the small girl, face etched with anxiety. 

"Yeah, some people did, but they were cowards. They're afraid of anyone who is different and we definitely don't listen to them, got it? Listening to them gives them power over you and they don't deserve that. I know it's hard to see right now but being different is a gift, that big old brain of yours can change the world."

"What if I don't want to change the world? What if I just want to, I don't know, go shopping with my friends or just have friends." she whispered softly chewing on her lip, a nervous gesture Daisy recognized. Daisy grasped her hand tightly, sending small vibrations down her arm before pulling her into a hug, feeling the slight girl shudder against her. She took a deep breath and reigned in her urge to show up to her school and quake every single snotty teenager who hurt her precious little bean. 

"You're different and there is nothing wrong with that, ok? High school sucks and people are stupid but you'll be out of there soon and you never have to look back. Just focus on the work and you never know, friends pop up in the weirdest ways. I mean your parents didn't find each other until they were sixteen and they didn't even like each other at first. Weird, right? I was a full adult- well, adult-ish, before I had anyone I could really talk to. I lived in a van. Your mom said it smelled like farts." Daisy made a face getting Peggy to laugh before continuing "The point is- you will find your people. It might not be right now, but you will find them when you need them. Plus, you have the most awesome family on the planet which I personally think is pretty cool. If no one in that dumb snooty school wants to be friends with the absolute coolest twelve year old on the planet well you have me, and I'm cooler than all of them so" Daisy stuck out her tongue and scrunched her face up making Peggy crack her bright smile finally. "There, that's more like it. It's me and you kid, against the world, always." Daisy squeezed her hand again before turning back in her seat, overwhelmed by the love she felt for her little niece. "And if anyone ever so much as looks at you wrong, I'm going to have to start getting names, so I can readjust some attitudes. I'm sure Fitz will agree."

"Ugh, don't get him started. Da already tried to go down to the school, me and Mum had to stop him from filing a complaint against the entire school." Peggy tucked a dirty blonde curl behind her ear and smiled her megawatt smile. "My best friend is a superhero that is so much cooler than anyone in that stupid school anyway."

"You're damn right." Daisy agreed, as she eased the car back on the road "I mean your darn right...don't tell your Mom. I don't have any cash for the swear jar." Peggy rolled her eyes, Daisy having flashbacks of that same face being made at her by her favorite nerd herd thousands of times over the years, got to love genetics. "Seriously, though, baby genius, need anyone quaked?" Peggy pretended to give it some real thought before laughing it off. 

"No, thanks Aunt Daisy, but I'll keep that in mind if I ever need it." 

"Anytime, anywhere. No one messes with my niece." 

The rest of the drive was spent singing obnoxiously and the time passed way too quickly before they were back home. Daisy pulled up into the driveway and they both headed towards the now chaotic Fitz-Simmons household. 

Peggy tugged her backpack out the backseat with impressive ease and the two made their way into the house. Peggy quickly hugged her Aunt with a bright smile before turning to greet her Dad who was sitting on the couch, completely engrossed in his tablet finishing something Daisy brought him while her younger siblings chased each other around the room. Peggy dropped her bag with a satisfying thunk and leaned down to hug her favorite person on the planet. 

"Hi, Da."

"Hey, Monkey. Are you feeling better?" He reached over and pulled her down to the couch to sit with him, completely at ease in the general chaos that has become their lives. Peggy leaned her head against his shoulder and nodded, burrowing herself closer into his side. 

"Yeah, Aunt Daisy helped a lot. The kids at school this week in particular were…" Noting his ready to go battle face, she decided vague would be better. "Not great. But you know, right? You and Mum?" Fitz sighed wearily and wrapped his arm tighter around his daughter wishing that he could lie to her just this once.

"Yeah, Monkey. We know. People weren't exactly lining up to be our friends until we met each other. I just hoped that things would be different for you. That's all."

"Yeah, not so much, I guess. Sometimes, I just want to be normal, do things like Maisie gets to. But Aunt Daisy told me that there's nothing wrong with being different and that I'll find friends eventually. I mean it could be worse, at least I have you guys." Peggy looked up at him with a small smile and gave a little nonchalant shrug as he shrugged back at her playfully. He pulled her closer to him, adjusting his arm over her small shoulders and ruffled the curls in her ponytail prompting her to bat him away, both laughing at their endless battle to continuously mess up each other's curls. Fitz reached over, face serious again and ran his calloused fingers over the planes of his daughter's face. When did she get so old? 

"Did she now? Well, that's good advice." Fitz's voice cracked, remembering the moment with such clarity that it took his breath away. The moment he said those very words to a very scared friend when she needed him, he shook his head to clear the memory and focused back on his almost teenager. 

"The kids at school are still jerks but I'll be ok, Da. Don't worry." Peggy reached over and squeezed his arm before pushing herself off the couch. "I need Mum's help with my project, is she…?"

"I'm in here!" Jemma yelled from the kitchen, very much not hiding the fact that she was listening to everything. 

"Yeah, she's in the kitchen." Fitz waved her off. Peggy picked up her bag like it weighed nothing and bounced off to the kitchen, ready to take on the world once again. Fitz sat staring uselessly at his tablet for a moment before catching Daisy's attention as she joined in yelling with his two younger kids and sending her a wide grateful smile. 

When Daisy walked in the door she had every intention of helping Jemma cook dinner in the kitchen, or at least keeping her company while Jemma did most of the work. She couldn't resist the eruption of glee that exploded from the two younger Fitz-Simmons children upon seeing their favorite Aunt and she was immediately pulled into their loud game. She couldn't quite figure out what they were playing but she was always happy to contribute to the noise level. She particularly enjoyed watching how long it took for Fitz to get that annoyed scrunchy face and start pinching his eyes. She would take her fun where she could get it, she let out a particularly loud yell and Maisie and Cole followed suit. Fitz glared at her from his spot on the couch, knowing exactly what she was up to and she sent him a wide, innocent smile, shrugging nonchalantly. She turned to toss three year old Cole into the air with ease, sending a screech of wild laughter through the house that made her laugh as well. Their joy was contagious. Cole with his bright blue eyes and wavy brown hair was a mischievous little daredevil who never stopped asking questions, she could toss him about and he would only laugh and ask to go higher. Cole stood up on the couch, eyeing his father to see if he was being watched and held out his hands towards the ottoman, making sound effects for good measure. Daisy was pretty sure her heart was going to explode, she also snuck a glance to see if anyone was paying attention and sent a few small vibrations to shake the ottoman that Cole was aiming his pretend powers toward. His eyes widened comically, before unadulterated joy transformed his features. 

"Again, Aunt Daisy!" Daisy shot another glance over to Fitz who was studiously ignoring what they were doing. Daisy placed a finger to her lips and Cole quieted, still holding out his hands waiting. 

"Ok, one more time but don't tell mom" Daisy saw the corners of Fitz's mouth rise before dropping back down, keeping his face neutral.

"I heard that, Daisy!" Jemma called from the kitchen. Daisy snorted and then quaked the ottoman once again, Cole then jumped down from the couch and launched himself into a battle unseen where he continued to quake his imaginary foe.

Maisie looked so much like Simmons, Daisy wondered about cloning, but that's where the similarities seemed to end. Maisie was all exuberance and bright laughter around her family but around strangers she shut up like a clam. Where Peggy was always confident and assured in her abilities, Maisie was shy and doubting. She was much more easy going than her siblings and had an open friendliness that drew people to her. Daisy often caught her watching when she thought no one was looking and the little girl would just know when she needed a hug or a light hand resting on her shoulder. She loved to dance and was just starting to learn the piano with all of the determined focus inherited from her parents. She questioned herself a lot, especially watching how fast and easily Peggy was able to learn things, Daisy wondered how long it would take for both girls to realize that the grass was not always greener on the other side. Fitz and Jemma did their best to bolster Maisie at every opportunity and they took great pains to never compare any of their children's abilities, but some things were unavoidable. Maisie would learn to value herself as the rest of them did, it would just take more time. Daisy pulled a giggling Maisie to her and tickled her side sending peels of laughter over her brother's loud yelling as he ran towards them at full speed, having no doubt that Daisy would catch him. Daisy easily braced the force of his impact and tossed him back to his feet without missing a beat with Maisie. 

This was her favorite place in the entire universe. No amount of tech and video calls could take the place of just being a part of this family, her family. Daisy got up from the floor and began chasing the two youngest Fitz-Simmons' around the room, pausing to peek in on Peggy who was sitting at the kitchen island, pencil in hand, talking through some science mumbo jumbo with Jemma as she stirred something in a pot. Whatever it was smelled delicious. She felt Fitz's hand on her arm and leaned over to bump his shoulder with hers, both eyeing up the pot while Jemma had her back turned to help Peggy with something. They both nodded to each other and with the effortless ease of years of missions and food heists together, they soundlessly made their way over to the stove and each liberated a steaming mouthful of beef and vegetables before being caught red handed. 

"You two are worse than the kids, fingers out of the food!" Jemma laughed and swatted the two of them away as they reached over her and stole one last bit of food before being shooed to the other side of the counter. Fitz molded himself to her back, resting his chin on her shoulder as she continued to talk through an intricate biochemical equation with Peggy. Daisy rolled her eyes, "Suck up." Fitz stuck his tongue out at her and smiled unabashedly.

"You know it." Jemma leaned her head back and pressed a kiss to his cheek, Fitz smiling wider as Daisy faked a gag. They had been married for well over ten years and best friends for most of their lives at this point and they still were the same FitzSimmons. She still found them bickering loudly in the lab, talking over each other, intrinsically finishing each other's thoughts, effortlessly inside each other's personal space, they had new things to argue about now though. Daisy still wished she had videoed the argument over Cole's name. A heavily pregnant Jemma threatening to call their unborn son Milton if Fitz didn't make a decision was something she wished she could have captured forever. For every messed up thing that they went through, in the end Shield didn't break them, any of them.

"At least make yourselves useful and set the table?" Jemma pressed a firm kiss to Fitz's now pouting lips as he was not so gently dislodged from around her as she moved to stir the contents of the pot. He reached over, purposely invading her personal space with a playful smirk as he retrieved the plates from the cabinet.

"Ok, as much as I want another niece or nephew, there are children present." Peggy began to roll her eyes and opened her mouth to protest.

"Me. I am the child and do not want to witness whatever this is." She gestured emphatically to the couple, now openly laughing at her, still leaning on each other, Jemma's arm draped low on Fitz's back. Fitz pressed a kiss to her temple and sent her a mischievous smile as he reluctantly pulled away from her. Peggy shook her head, exasperated by the antics of the three supposed adults in the room. 

"Daisy, can you go get Cole and Maisie? Dinner is about ready." 

Daisy nodded and without moving a muscle yelled at the top of her lungs,

"Foods up, let's GO!" Daisy smiled widely and sidled past an exasperated Jemma to get the silverware from the drawer and began placing them along the plates Fitz had set out on the table, pointedly ignoring Jemma's groan of annoyance. Maisie and Cole bounded into the kitchen full of energy and Daisy immediately plucked Cole from his feet and swung him to the sink to wash his hands. Maisie followed behind her and waited patiently to be lifted up to the sink's height. Peggy set down her pencil and easily lifted Maisie to reach the water before washing off the seemingly permanent graphite markings along her right hand. Jemma set the food down in the middle of the table while Fitz filled drinks, the two rotating around each other easily. Daisy placed a wriggling Cole into his booster seat and began cutting up vegetables and beef into small bits for the three year old. It was so ordinary, dinner with family. Looking around at Maisie boisterously telling Jemma a story, twin heads bent in amusement, Fitz pulling faces at Cole as he messily shoveled his food into his open mouth, offering some of his cut up food to him before laughing and pulling his tiny Captain America fork away and into his own mouth. Peggy nudged her with a playful elbow and smiled up at her as everyone talked over each other and passed around food. Daisy nudged her back with a laugh, the pressure of constantly facing world ending consequences easing from her shoulders, FitzSimmons made the right choice all of those years ago when they walked away from that last mission. She looked around at the cottage they always talked about and their tiny humans and a sense of boundless happiness came over her. It could have easily gone so differently but here they all were, not bad for a couple of bus kids. 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Well, this is the end...THANK YOU to everyone who took the time to leave comments (they made my day)/kudos or took the time to read this. I literally stress spewed this all into one giant document while sitting in an airport freaking out about work this past February and I needed to focus on something happy. I mean if you don't turn your extreme anxiety and terror into extreme fluff what is even the point? (I'M KIDDING) Breaking it up and making it coherent whole thing has taken a hot minute but I hope it brings a little bit of fluffiness to your day :) :) :)


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